MacTech Blog

Jul 20

AI, analytics speed up the pace of digital workplace...

New research examining how organizations are evolving from a traditional office environment to a digital workplace reveals that gaining competitive advantage and improving business process are among the top goals of their digital transformation strategy. This is according to 40% of 800 organizations in 15 countries on five continents that were interviewed for a new Dimension Data (www.dimensiondata.com).

The research group says that digital transformation is not just about adopting the technologies of the past: 62% of research participants expect to have technology such as virtual advisors in their organizations within the next two years. In addition, 58% expect to start actively investing in technology that powers virtual advisors in the next two years.

Today, the digital workplace is no longer just made up of managers and those managed; co-workers collaborating with one another to complete...

A new Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) report notes that 59% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu.

The firm's OTT Video Market Tracker service notes that only 6% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to any other OTT service without also having a subscription to one of the top three services, while 3% subscribe to one or more sports OTT video service, including MLB.TV, NFL Game Pass, NBA League Pass, or WWE Network.

The OTT Video Market Tracker ongoing service provides industry research data and analysis of competing players' strengths and weaknesses in the space and includes an exhaustive analysis of market trends and profiles of more than 100 OTT video service providers in the U.S. and Canada.

"U.S. consumers are not taking solely a Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu subscription. Many are shopping around and trialing new services to get access to...

The use of mobile peer-to-peer payment apps, such as Venmo, in the US will continue to experience double-digit growth through 2021, according to eMarketer’s (www.emarketer.com) latest mobile banking/payments forecast.

The transaction value of mobile peer-to-peer payments in the U.S. will grow 55.0% this year to $120.38 billion, notes the research group. Transaction values are on pace to double by 2021. This year in particular, growth of P2P payment apps will largely be driven by the rollout of Zelle, a network of more than 30 banks and credit unions that will allow banking customers to transfer money to others within the network. It will be rolled out over the next 12 months.

“Mobile P2P payments have been driven by the desire for convenience, on-demand payments and the widespread adoption of smartphones,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst Cindy Liu. “Strong double-digit growth is...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that commercial aircraft adopting in-flight Wi-Fi services will reach 14,419 globally by 2022, up from an estimated 5,243 in 2017. This will mean that over half of the global fleet will offer such services in 2022, compared with just under a quarter this year.

This increase will primarily be driven by the impact of the BYOD (bring your own device) trend, despite increased security concerns from several governments, primarily the US, which has given rise to the so-called “laptop ban,” says the research group. Juniper found that in-flight wireless streaming is increasingly being offered as an IFE (in-flight entertainment) option, based on a lower installation cost and weight savings versus seatback systems.

Newly released results from IDC (www.idc.com) reveal that the top drivers of cloud adoption include improving agility and security, as well as standardizing IT infrastructure.

As multi-cloud environments and hybrid cloud become more prevalent, the survey revealed that 87% of cloud users have adopted some capabilities for a hybrid cloud strategy, an increase of 17% compared to 2016, according to the research group.

"Beyond adoption and maturity, a series of questions on 'why are' or 'why aren't' respondents moving more workloads to the cloud makes up a key part of the study," said Ben jamin McGrath, senior research analyst, SaaS and Cloud Software.

Additional findings from the study include:

° 56% of users run more than one type of cloud deployment.

° 40% of cloud users are "Cloud First" organizations.

"When we look at the shift in IT spend over the next 12-24 months to more of a mix of...

The global E-SIM card market is predicted to see the entry of a “significant number” of new players and intensifying competition in the future, according to Transparency Market Research (TMR). A few of the prominent players operating in the global E-SIM card market are Apple, Samsung, Gemalto N.V., Giesecke & Devrient, NTT DOCOMO, OT-Morpho, Telefonica S.A., Deutsche Telekom AG, Sierra Wireless., and ST Microelectronics.

A report by Transparency Market Research (www.transparencymarketresearch.cxom) projects the global E-SIM card market to expand at 13.5% CAGR [compound annual growth rate] between 2017 and 2025. At this rate, the market is expected to be pegged at $14,6 million by 2025, increasing from $4 million in 2016.

The global E-SIM card market based upon application is segmented into machine to machine (M2M), wearable and companion devices, smartphones, and...

Consumer, SOHO, and SMB network attached storage market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) now through 2021, according to a new report from ReportsnReports (reportsandreports.com). Part of that is due to the increasing popularity of cloud-based NAS, a remote storage system that can be accessed over the Internet, adds the research group.

According to the ReportsnReports report, another driver in the market is raising demand for video surveillance systems. Smart home security is among the most demanding IoT applications from the consumer's end point. Smart home security systems operate on the centralized control of the home gateway where the intelligence shifts onto the cloud network. Cloud-based services provide a more user-friendly system to end-users for controlling the security devices as part of the cloud-based system. Issues such as interoperability, updating of software and so on would all be taken care of by cloud services.

A new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) predicts that the global docking station market will grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 5.87 % during the period 2017-2021.

The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is growing market for wireless docking stations, according to the research group. The growing popularity of wireless electronic devices, such as laptops and smartphones, is encouraging docking station manufacturers to design and produce docking stations that can connect to laptops and smartphones wirelessly.

Docking stations are becoming important, especially in workplaces, as they provide employees the freedom to use external monitors and other input devices with ease. However, wired docking stations add a constraint to the workplace as they restrict the mobility of users.

5K Display Resolutions is the next generation of ultra-high-definition displays and it's already causing a stir in the tech world, offering just over seven times the resolution of 1080p full HD both horizontally and also vertically. I

According to a recent study report published by Market Research Future (www.marketresearchfuture.com), the global market of 5K display resolutions has increased in recent years. The market is expected to grow at a rapid pace through 2023, according to the research group The 5K display resolutions market is forecasted to demonstrate a spectacular growth by 2023, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR [compound annual growth rate] during this period, adds the research group.

The continuous developments and increasing technological advancements are major factors leading to growth of 5K display resolution market....

The long-term prospect for these technologies is that they will become embedded in many different other technologies and provide autonomous decision making on behalf of humans, both directly, and indirectly through many processes, products, and services, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) AI will anticipated to have an ever increasing role in ICT including both traditional telecommunications as well as many communications enabled applications and digital commerce, adds the research group.

Some of us are already enjoying new technology when designing or building our homes – such as IoT [Internet of Things] devices, interior design apps or even AI. It’s predicted that soon most of our homes will enter digital age. Here is a rundown of the major features of a house of the future, according to the folks at Planner 5D (www.planner5d.com), an interior design platform.

° Smart interior apps. Why hire a designer, when a room can be professionally designed by the owner? Such design apps as Planner 5D gives its users the possibility to create floor plans and furnish their apartment or house based on a catalogue. The users can move furniture around, choose texture, color and size of all the pieces. It also analyzes projects crafted by millions of other people, and offers creative ideas for turning one’s apartment or house into an original, tasteful home.

Birthdays engender delays, which is why this tome is a few days late, being written on the third of July. Canada Day number 150 falling on a Saturday this year, meant the national holiday substituting for it fell on the Spy's own birthday. Nice of the country to celebrate for me, but really…

'Course, that other fractious country to the south had its birthday Tuesday. In view of recent national and other elections, the questions of course for pundits and historians are: (a) is either country (or the states/provinces therein) mature? and (b) can either avoid falling apart due to deep divisions?

Canada may be less far along the road to potential disintegration at the moment, but both neatly illustrate the Spy's old prediction that the Internet, when it came, rather then ushering in the global village, would more likely bring disparate people into contact only to exacerbate intrenched hatreds. Country vs city, have vs have not,...

According to the IDC (www.idc.com) vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew 14.9% year over year in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17), reaching $8 billion.

Cloud IT infrastructure sales as a share of overall worldwide IT spending climbed to 39% in 1Q17, a significant increase from 33.9% a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 6.0% to $3.1 billion, and to public cloud by 21.7% to $4.8 billion. In comparison, revenue in the traditional (non-cloud) IT infrastructure segment decreased 8.0% year over year in the first quarter of the year.

Private cloud infrastructure growth was led by Ethernet switch at 15.5% year-over-year growth, followed by storage (excluding double counting with servers) at 10.0% and server at 2.1%. Public cloud growth was led by storage, which after heavy declines...

Analysts at Beige Market Intelligence (http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com) expect that the global smart home hub market is likely to post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 5% and 4% in terms of unit shipment and revenue, respectively during 2016-2022.

As customers are increasing relying on smartphones and the convenience of information available on them through a large number of websites, their needs along with their expectations have altered, notes the research group. By using a voice-assistance technology, companies are trying to offer their customers something which can assist them and make their life convenient.

The increase in per capita income and the number of dual-income households also constitute the basis of increasing spending on innovative devices such as smart home hubs. Apart from an increasing demand from developed markets, factors...

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the trend of strong market growth in digital strategy and agency services will continue through 2021.

The strong growth rates in spending are attributed to the degree of maturity in Digital Transformation (DX) strategies as executives carefully consider and plan for the impact of digital innovation on everything from enterprise business goals to products and service innovation, business processes, organizational structures, and the workforce, according to IDC (www.idc.com).

As DX becomes completely foundational to future business, the proportion of digital-related consulting engagements will increase from about half of all business and information technology (IT) consulting engagements in 2013–2015 to approximately 70% of all engagements in 2020 or 2021, driving the total market for digital strategy and agency services to well over $100 billion in...

The AR (augmented reality) gaming market is expected to reach $284.93 billion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 152.7% from 2017 to 2023, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

Increasing integration of AR into mobile devices, growing online population, innovations in gaming technology, and demand for IoT-based applications are forcing the organizations to integrating AR into their traditional gaming, according to the research group. The increasing online gamers and internet penetration are some of the additional factors contributing to the market growth.

The growing affordability and availability of AR games in mobile devices is a prime factor driving the market growth, according to Research and Markets. Many organizations are hugely investing in the advanced solutions that integrate AR games into mobile devices, enabling them to...

IDC (www.idc.com) says retail banks (including thrift banks and credit unions) in the U.S. will spend $20.2 billion on hardware, software, services, and internal IT staff to develop and implement DX initiatives in 2017, growing at an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.5% into 2020.

This compares with growth of 4.8% in overall IT spend for U.S. banks. The forecast by the research highlights spending by US–based banks across four categories of DX technology: hardware, software, IT services, and internal IT.

"There are very few banks in the United States that aren't investing in transformational technologies, and fewer still that haven't at least developed a digital transformation strategy,” said Jerry Silva, esearch director, Global Retail Banking, IDC Financial Insights. And the largest institutions are allocating more than 40% of their IT budgets to digital transformation.”

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) highlights the increasing dominance of Chinese companies in digital payments, with players such as Alibaba, Tencent and UnionPay seeking to bolster their revenues through international expansion.

According to the research group, digital payment transaction values are expected to reach $5 trillion by 2021, up from $3.6 trillion this year, of which $3.4 trillion will come from sales outside mainland China.

The report, which identified a series of key strategic approaches for players across the digital payments market, argues that both Alibaba and Tencent are keen to capitalize on the growing spend by both Chinese tourists and immigrant workers, now worth over $200 billion per annum. Potential game-changing decisions are Alipay’s move to roll out instore payments in Europe and Tencent’s efforts to deploy its WeChat wallet, which...

Over 50% of websites collect visitors' email addresses, creating the possibility of privacy breaches, as revealed by a survey conducted by Clutch (https://clutch.co/), a research and reviews platform for business services.

Website visitors' email addresses are most commonly collected (57%), followed by names (47%), and locations (45%), the survey found. Although this information can provide valuable insights for businesses, inconsistent security measures may increase the risk to visitors' privacy, according to Clutch. Industry leaders point out that email addresses present the greatest security risk to consumers.
"When data is correlated over multiple web services, whether that is a Gmail account, a bank account, or a password retrieval from Facebook, it's done through the email address," said Idan Udi Edry, CEO of Trustifi, a company specializing in email transaction data security and privacy. "The...

Businesses have become less skeptical of cloud computing, more confident in its security, and more inclined to invest money in it, according to new findings.

Nearly 70% of U.S. businesses surveyed by B2B ratings and reviews firm Clutch (https://clutch.co/cloud) say that they plan to increase spending on cloud computing in 2017. One in five of those businesses report that their cloud computing spending this year will likely increase by more than 30%.

The increased spending on cloud computing is likely due to a shift in perspective, according to experts. The cloud is no longer seen by many businesses as simply an alternative option, but as the next logical step for data storage and management.
"Cloud is the new normal," said Jeremy Przygode, CEO of Stratalux, Inc., a California-based Managed Service Provider (MSP). "When businesses need to evaluate new solutions, or need to do a hardware...

The global cloud mobile music services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 7% from 2017-2021, according to Technavio’s (www.technavio.com) latest market research.

“Cloud-based online music enables listeners to move from the traditional way of owning music to a new model of 'anytime-anywhere' access to music. Moving from an ownership model to subscription and ad-supported music is likely to change the music preferences of consumers as they will experiment more with the new forms of music,” says Ishmeet Kaur, a lead enterprise application research expert from Technavio.

In 2016, the US and Canada were the key regions in the cloud mobile music services market in North America. Increasing number of mobile phone users, rising Internet penetration, and popular social media fueled the demand for cloud mobile music services in the region. In 2016, there was an increase...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that retailers stand to lose $71 billion globally from fraudulent CNP (Card-Not-Present) transactions over the next five years. The research found that a number of factors, such as the USA’s shift to EMV cards, delays in 3DS 2.0 (3D-Secure) and click-and-collect fraud were key drivers behind the rise.

Juniper’s latest research found that many merchants still perceive combatting fraud as too expensive. Consequently, they have been ill-prepared to deal with the shift to online fraud following the introduction of EMV (CHIP and signature) payment cards in the USA.

Nevertheless, Juniper’s cost analysis of FDP (fraud detection and prevention) solutions found that in most instances, merchants would receive value from their investment. The analyst house urges players across the value chain to increase their efforts in educating...

Voice controlled smart speaker unit shipments are expected to increase from around 10 million to approximately 80 million, between 2017 and 2022, globally, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com). This includes market segments: voice controlled room speakers, portable/battery powered speakers, sound bars and wireless multi-room speakers.

Voice controlled smart speakers are experiencing significant growth and are playing an important role in the evolution of the voice user interface. Recent developments in artificial intelligence, and natural language processing to enhance voice recognition capabilities has increased the overall demand for voice software platforms embedded in speakers and smart home devices.

A range of innovative voice technologies are creating new opportunities across a broad range of use case applications from streaming content, and...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has revealed that, by 2022, 50% of consumer vehicles on the road will have at least one connectivity service, such as telematics, V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communications, or connected car commerce services.

The new research found that revenues from consumer connected car services will rise from $18.4bn in 2017 to $49.2bn in 2022, a 21.6% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). Increasing industry involvement from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and network operators, combined with the development of new V2X services, will be key drivers for future growth.

Juniper Research found that automotive OEMs must prepare to capitalize on the impending opportunities of V2X services, such as smart parking and automated fuel payments. North America will emerge as the leading region in this space, accounting for 39% of all end-user spend...

Spohn Security Solutions says 32% of businesses were victims of a major cyber-attack over the past year. The corporate world loses $388 billion annually recovering from cybersecurity breaches, $55 billion is spent annually fixing computer viruses alone, according to the research group.

Timothy Crosby, senior security consultant for Spohn Security Solutions (https://spohnsolutions.com), says while cyber criminals bear the brunt of blame, much of the security threat comes from within an organization. A survey of 4,500 CIOs and technology leaders found that:

° The insider threat is the #1 fastest-growing security risk;

° Fifty-five percent of businesses reported a security breach due to a malicious or negligent employee;

° Fifty percent of individuals causing a breach were granted IT system access by their organization.

The older we get, the less likely we are to want to experiment with novel flavors and fragrances, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData (www.globaldata.com).

The research group’s latest report shows that younger consumers are the most experimental demographic, with GlobalData’s survey data showing that nearly four out five millennials globally say they enjoy experimenting with foreign products. This trend declines with age, with just 57% of those in the older “silent generation” (those born between 1925 and 1945) agreeing.

“Millennials are more open to new and innovative concepts, indicative of wider exposure to foreign cultures and products from an early age compared to their senior peers,” says Melanie Felgate, senior consumer analyst for GlobalData.

Curiosity has emerged as the key driver of appetite for new flavors and fragrances,

The IDC research group (www.idc.com) says 3D printer shipments increased 29% in 2016 while revenue grew by more than 18% year-over-year in 2016.

"The 3D printing market surge continues on a worldwide basis with more technology and materials options, which are driving more investment in 3D printers and greater utilization of the equipment that has been installed" said Tim Greene, research director, Hardcopy Solutions at IDC. "We're seeing exciting growth in some of the key technology segments, with FFF/FDM, SLA, and Powder-bed Fusion all growing at double-digit rates year over year" Greene continued.

The fastest-growing technology segments were FFF/FDM and Stereolithography, which each grew shipments by nearly 30% in 2016 vs. 2015. On the revenue side, powder-bed fusion-based 3D printers grew by nearly 40% from 2015 to 2016.

The strongest growth in 3D printer shipments came from the Asia/Pacific region (...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperesearch.com) forecasts that smart toy sales will reach $15.5 billion in hardware and app content revenues by 2022, up from an estimated $4.9 billion in 2017.

This increase will primarily be driven by the growing popularity of smartphone-based connected toys and the enduring appeal of console-connected “toys to life,” action figures that interact with a video game via a reader device, adds the research group. The new research identified the Lego Group as being particularly well positioned in this category, with their successful “toys to life” range, Lego Dimension. Juniper forecasts that 224 million smart toys will be shipped worldwide in 2017.

The study found that many players in the smart toy segment are not only appealing to children, but also to ‘“kidults” and collectors, as demonstrated by Sphero’s BB8 app-enabled droid and Lego Dimension’s A-...

The latest findings from Canalys’ (www.canalys.com) Autonomous Vehicle Analysis service show that four cities lead the way when it comes to being ready for autonomous vehicles. San Francisco is out in front, followed by Shanghai, Singapore and London.

These rise to the top of a group of cities that, due to their size and populations, have some of the most complex transport networks in the world. The top four have a high need for autonomous vehicles to revolutionize their transport systems, combined with the ability to make it happen.

These conclusions come from Canalys’ recently published Autonomous Vehicle Readiness Index (AVRI), which ranks, weights and scores cities based on a set of specific criteria drawn from public sources and Canalys’ own data and estimates.

“Naturally, San Francisco leads the way and is the city best able to implement autonomous vehicles. The Bay Area is renowned as the...

A new study by ID Analytics (www.idanalytics.com), which specializes in consumer risk management, finds that using alternative credit scores for safe lending can dramatically increase the number of individuals that are considered eligible for credit.

Through the use of alternative scores, lenders are able to see a more complete picture of an applicant’s credit worthiness. This enables more marginal, subprime or unscoreable individuals to take advantage of mainstream financial services.

While a significant number of U.S. consumers rely on credit for financial stability, many have difficulty gaining access to credit due to no or poor traditional credit scores. Millennials, immigrants and individuals with lower incomes are groups that are most likely to be seen by lenders and bureaus as “unscoreable.”

The application of automation and artificial intelligence to mission-critical business processes will more than triple by 2019, reflecting growing confidence in such technologies, new research from Information Services Group (ISG) (www.isg-one-com), a global technology research and advisory firm, has found.

In an ISG survey of more than 500 business and IT leaders, 16% say they’re currently applying automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to one or more mission-critical business processes. More than three times as many (51%) say they expect to do so by 2019. This rapid increase in adoption, the ISG Automation and AI Survey report notes, suggests IT and business leaders are becoming more confident that current proof-of-concept and pilot projects will move into production in the next 24 months.

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments decreased 0.8% year over year in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17), finishing at $2.15 billion, according to IDC.

The enterprise segment grew 4.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17) to reach $1.24 billion, notes the research group. Enterprise WLAN growth moderated in 1Q17 compared to 1Q16, when year-over-year growth registered a stronger 8.6%. However, demand for network refreshes, digital transformation (DX) initiatives, and the continued maturation of Wave 2 802.11ac are positive indicators for stronger growth going forward in 2017.

The 802.11ac standard now accounts for 70.9% of dependent access point unit shipments and 84.7% of dependent access point revenues. This points to a continued trend of 802.11n obsolescence, which is expected to be nearly complete by the end of 2018, says IDC.

BitSight (www.bitsighttech.com), which specializes in security ratings, has released a new report titled, "A Growing Risk Ignored: Critical Updates," analyzing more than 35,000 companies from industries across the globe over the last year, to better understand the usage of outdated computer operating systems and Internet browsers, the time to it took to update operating systems once a new release was made available, and how these practices correlate to data breaches.

The data shows that there are large gaps in asset management programs across the globe. Organizations must be more vigilant about limiting their attack surface by more rapidly addressing exploitable vulnerabilities, according to BitSight

The conclusion of this research coincides with "WannaCry," a strain of ransomware that affected over 300,000 computers worldwide across banks, hospitals, telecommunications services, and train...

Cloud computing is no longer a decision made solely for tactical reasons like cost savings or ease of implementation, according to InSight (https://www.insight.com/en_US/home.html). Key strategic business demands—the need for greater business agility, data capabilities, and better customer and user experiences—are compelling companies to embrace cloud systems, according to the research group.

Respondents to an InSight survey are nearly split when it comes to hybrid and private cloud adoption, while total public cloud usage captures only a fraction of the market:

° Hybrid approach with systems hosted in both the public and private clouds (42%);

According to the IDC research group (www.idc.com), vendor revenue in the worldwide server market declined 4.6% year over year to $11.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17).

Overall server market growth continues to slow down with most hyperscale service providers waiting until the second half of the year for deployment of Intel's new Skylake processors. High-end server sales continue to be a drag on overall market performance.

The market has also been negatively affected by DRAM pricing issues. Worldwide server shipments increased 1.4% year over year to 2.21 million units in 1Q17. One customer accounted for more than 10% of the servers shipped in 1Q17.

The Gartner research group (www.gartner.com) reports that half of all enterprise content will be machine authored, as well as managed on hybrid cloud systems by 2018.

File synchronization and sharing also are expected be a standard embedded Enterprise Content Management (ECM) business function, while over one-fifth of all businesses will be managing content from multiple organizations. These realities emphasize the urgent need for businesses to update and future-proof processes by investing in systems that allow content to be smoothly integrated and easily accessed online, in order to remain competitive, says Gartner.

Across financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, legal and retail industries, the demand for ECM and Business Process Management (BPM) systems ) to be personalized and hyper-connected is rapidly increasing - magnified by the continuous rise in e-commerce and an increasingly agile...

Lifestyle-focused consumers are increasingly seeking products personalized to their individual preferences rather than those corresponding to traditional demographic stereotypes, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData (www.globaldata.com).

The company’s latest report states that many consumers, particularly younger ones, are moving away from traditional categorizations and labels, such as age and gender, which have conventionally been used to segment consumers. GlobalData’s 2016 consumer research found that 66% of consumers globally are most likely to purchase products developed for their particular lifestyle, a figure ranking above the percentage of those most swayed by demographic alignment.

“In today’s individualistic society, there is a growing desire for products which can better align with consumers based on their individual preferences and personality in order to effectively...

Compuware Corp. (www.compuware.com), a mainframe-dedicated software company, has released a survey of large company CIOs showing that while most (78%) say their mainframe is more secure than other systems, the majority (84 percent) say they are still exposed to a significant risk of insider threats due to blind-spots in internal data access and controls.

The survey was conducted by independent research company Vanson Bourne, and administered in April to 400 CIOs at large companies covering a cross-section of vertical markets in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the U.S. Key findings include:

° Sixty-four percent of organizations use the mainframe as a core repository of their most sensitive data, storing either more or equal amounts of customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) there as they do on other systems.

Businesses large and small are scrambling to assess their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) readiness, with less than a year to go until its implementation on May 25, 2018, according to Canalys (www.canalys.com).

The new framework demands a reassessment of the everyday operational structure for businesses that handle personal data in the EU. Canalys forecasts that this will spur the IT security market in Western and Central Eastern Europe to grow 16% to $11.5 billion in 2018. However, there are significant differences in preparedness between companies of varied sizes, according to the research group.

“Our research shows that large businesses are well informed on information security regulations, with resources in place to ensure compliance. With ransomware threats such as WannaCry causing havoc, shareholders will be more willing to accept increased data security and compliance budgets to protect...

Most of us rely on popular social media platforms for our social connectivity and well-being.

These platforms do a great job in connecting us with our friends, relatives, and acquaintances. In fact, the level of connectivity they provide is so high that many of us unknowingly attain a level of hyper-connectivity that blinds us from interacting with everyone else who's not already in our social network.

People in our immediate surroundings share common experiences with us. Whether its those that are waiting for the same train as you, the thousands of fellow spectators that are watching the same football game at a stadium with you, or everyone staying in the same hotel as you — you have more in common, and thus more reasons to interact, with people in your immediate vicinity than you realize. Unfortunately, most of these people are not already in your social network and therefore, opportunities to interact with them are usually lost.

More than a quarter of enterprises globally have not built, customized or virtualized any mobile apps in the last 12 months, according to the latest mobile app survey by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

This number is surprisingly high, the research group’s analysts said, but it is still down from the year before. In the 2016 survey, 39% of respondents said they had not built, customized or virtualized any mobile apps in the previous 12 months.
Adrian Leow, research director at Gartner, said that enterprises are responding slowly to increasing demand for mobile apps.

"Many IT teams will have significant backlogs of application work that need completing, which increases the risk of lines of business going around IT to get what they want sooner," he added. "Development teams need to rethink their priorities and span of control over mobile app development or risk further erosion of IT budgets and the...

Worldwide shipments of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets continued to soar with a total of 2.3 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17), according to IDC (www.idc.com). With a long list of new products scheduled to ship in the second half of 2017, the research group is forecasting triple-digit growth for the full year.

VR represented the vast majority (more than 98%) of headsets shipped during the first quarter. Within VR, about two-thirds of all headset shipments were screenless viewers, such as Samsung's Gear VR and Google's Daydream View. Meanwhile, tethered VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Sony's PSVR, accounted for one third of the market.

"The VR market is still very young and consumers seem to be taking a cautious approach," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC's Mobile Device Trackers. "With plenty of headset options already in the...

Intel (www.intel.com) has revealed the findings from a new study that explores the yet-to-be-realized economic potential when today’s drivers become idle passengers. Coined the “Passenger Economy” by Intel and prepared by analyst firm Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com), the study predicts an explosive economic trajectory growing from US$800 billion in 2035 to US$7 trillion by 2050.

History has proven that technology is the catalyst for massive societal transformation and that businesses need to adapt or risk failure, or worse, extinction. New digital business models ushered in by personal computing, the internet, ubiquitous connectivity and smartphones gave birth to whole new economies. Autonomous driving will do the same.

“Companies should start thinking about their autonomous strategy now,” said Intel CEO Brian...

New data from Markets and Markets (www.marketsandmarkets.com) says the flexible display market will grow from $2.67 billion in 2016 to $15.14 billion by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 34.42% between 2017 and 2022.

The growth of this market is majorly driven by a technological shift to and development of energy-efficient, attractive, and high-specification products and the rising demand for smartphones, smartwatches, wearables, televisions, PC monitors, and laptops, according to the research group.

The smartphones and tablets segment was the largest market segment in 2016. The use of flexible displays in smartphones and tablets makes these more durable, as they offer stylish designs and better ergonomics to operate the devices, notes Markets and Market.

The OLED technology segment is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period, adds the...

In a reprise of previous comments on the subject, the Spy has resolved his issues with his Synology 4-bay 1815+ NAS, that he purchased for home use (yes, yes, overkill, but one cannot have too many backups, especially when one of them fails).

This unit worked worked well for over a year, but became flakey, started to beep, and when the Spy investigated, he found the volume had crashed. Attempting to turn it off and on again yielded a cold dead brick.

Synology issued an RMA an a promise to replace the unit if it couldn’t be repaired, and kept that promise, delivering a brand new unit. The volume could not be recovered from the drives, so had to be deleted and re-created, the users and apps reinstalled, the Time Machine functionality re-initialized. All now works well again. Synology service gets an A+ for standing behind their product, and a C- for speed of reply to the original ticket, and not replying at all when the Spy...

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that three-fourths of U.S. broadband households use Wi-Fi for in-home connectivity. The research group eamined the demand for smart home products and services and the impact across multiple verticals, including home energy and security, connected entertainment, smart home, and other IoT [Internet of Things] solutions.

"Consumers already use lots of data on their mobile, smart home, and entertainment devices, and Wi-Fi is doing most of the work in the home, accounting for more than 70% of data used per month in U.S. broadband households," said Harry Wang, senior director of Research, Parks Associates. "Consumer data needs will continue to increase, both in and outside the home, as between 2015 and 2020, U.S. households will acquire more than 2.3 billion connected devices. Providers and manufacturers must ensure their offerings can...

A new report by Juniper Research (www.juniperresearh.com) has found that criminal data breaches will cost businesses a total of $8 trillion over the next five years, due to higher levels of Internet connectivity and inadequate enterprise wide security.

The research group forecasts that the number of personal data records stolen by cybercriminals will reach 2.8 billion in 2017, almost doubling to five billion in 2020, despite new and innovative cybersecurity solutions emerging. Juniper found that SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are particularly at risk from cyberattacks, spending less than $4,000 on cybersecurity measures this year. Only marginal increases in security spend are expected over the next five years. These firms also tend to run older software, which WannaCry and other recent cyberattacks have exploited.

Juniper’s research highlights a need for companies to put more money into...

MachNation (www.machnation.com), an insight services firm, has released an in-depth evaluation and rating of 18 Internet of Things device management vendors.

According to survey data collected from participating vendors in the scorecard, Internet of Things (IoT) device management revenue will grow 107% in 2017 with only 33% of the revenue coming from North America. MachNation forecasts that 2017 worldwide IoT platform revenue will reach $2 billion as enterprise buyers invest in the underlying technology to power their IoT solutions. The firm’s survey data show that sectors including energy/utilities, transportation, industrial, manufacturing and smart cities generate the most revenue for device management vendors.

"MachNation, the industry's most knowledgeable researchers for IoT middleware and platforms, has coordinated the publication of our scorecard with the product launch of our new IoT Device...

According to new data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) more than 442 million connected consumer devices will be sold in the U.S. in 2020. These sales totals include connected entertainment, mobile, health, and smart home devices.

Personal assistant devices, which include speakers with voice control such as the Amazon Alexa and Google Home, are the fastest growing category with a compound annual growth rate of 78.3% in 2015-2020.

"Voice control is the top trend for 2017 in the IoT and smart home," said Elizabeth Parks, senior vice president, Parks Associates. "Parks Associates research shows U.S. consumers will buy more than 2.3 billion connected devices between 2015 and 2020, and they are showing strong preferences for voice as the interface for their devices. Companies in the smart home, entertainment, and connected car ecosystems are pursuing partnerships that can add voice...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that users of digital commerce services will reach three billion by 2021, or 40% of the global population, up from just 32% this year.

The new research found that two core sectors will dominate the global digital commerce industry, in terms of transaction values: Remote payments for digital & physical goods, and digital banking via bill payment services.

These segments together will account for over half of global transaction values by 2021, according to Juniper. Significant opportunity for businesses exists, with remote payments for digital and physical goods forecast to account for over 10% of the $20 trillion global retail market in 2017, notes the research group.

Juniper’s study found that businesses will gain advantage through use of automated customer experiences. With product search and discovery a key...

Software Updates via MacUpdate

BetterTouchTool adds many new, fully customizable gestures to the Magic Mouse, Multi-Touch MacBook trackpad, and Magic Trackpad.
These gestures are customizable:
Magic Mouse:
Pinch in / out (zoom... Read more

Tor Browser Bundle 7.5.2 - Anonymize Web...

The Tor Browser Bundle is an easy-to-use portable package of Tor, Vidalia, Torbutton, and a Firefox fork preconfigured to work together out of the box. It contains a modified copy of Firefox that... Read more

Monosnap 3.4.11 - Versatile screenshot u...

Monosnap lets you capture screenshots, share files, and record video and .gifs!
Features
Capture
Capture full screen, just part of the screen, or a selected window
Make your crop area pixel... Read more

Yummy FTP Pro 2.0.3 - $29.99

Yummy FTP Pro is an advanced Mac file transfer app which provides a full-featured professional toolkit combined with blazing speeds and impeccable reliability, so whether you want to transfer a few... Read more

Smultron 10.1.3 - Easy-to-use, powerful...

Smultron 10 is an elegant and powerful text editor that is easy to use. You can use Smultron 10 to create or edit any text document. Everything from a web page, a note or a script to any single piece... Read more

Time Out 2.4 - Break reminder tool with...

Time Out helps remind you to take work breaks throughout the day. It has two kinds of breaks: a "Normal" break, typically for 10 minutes after 50 minutes of work, so you can move about and relax,... Read more

Iridient Developer 3.2.2 - Powerful imag...

Iridient Developer (was RAW Developer) is a powerful image-conversion application designed specifically for OS X. Iridient Developer gives advanced photographers total control over every aspect of... Read more

DesktopLyrics 2.6.13 - Displays current...

DesktopLyrics is an application that displays the lyrics of the song currently playing in "iTunes" right on your desktop. The lyrics for the song have to be set in iTunes; DesktopLyrics does nothing... Read more

BusyContacts 1.2.8 - Fast, efficient con...

BusyContacts is a contact manager for OS X that makes creating, finding, and managing contacts faster and more efficient. It brings to contact management the same power, flexibility, and sharing... Read more

iClock 4.2.5 - Customizable menu bar clo...

iClock replaces the old Apple's default menu bar clock with more features, customization and increases your productivity.
Features:
Have your Apple or Google calendar instantly available from the... Read more

Latest Forum Discussions

How PUBG, Fortnite, and the battle royal...

The history of the battle royale genre isn't a long one. While the nascent parts of the experience have existed ever since players first started killing one another online, it's really only in the past six years that the genre has coalesced into... | Read more »

Around the Empire: What have you missed...

Oh hi nice reader, and thanks for popping in to check out our weekly round-up of all the stuff that you might have missed across the Steel Media network. Yeah, that's right, it's a big ol' network. Obviously 148Apps is the best, but there are some... | Read more »

All the best games on sale for iPhone an...

It might not have been the greatest week for new releases on the App Store, but don't let that get you down, because there are some truly incredible games on sale for iPhone and iPad right now. Seriously, you could buy anything on this list and I... | Read more »

Everything You Need to Know About The Fo...

In just over a week, Epic Games has made a flurry of announcements. First, they revealed that Fortnite—their ultra-popular PUBG competitor—is coming to mobile. This was followed by brief sign-up period for interested beta testers before sending out... | Read more »

The best games that came out for iPhone...

It's not been the best week for games on the App Store. There are a few decent ones here and there, but nothing that's really going to make you throw down what you're doing and run to the nearest WiFi hotspot in order to download it. That's not to... | Read more »

Death Coming (Games)

Death Coming 1.1.1.536
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $1.99, Version: 1.1.1.536 (iTunes)
Description:
--- Background Story ---You Died. Pure and simple, but death was not the end. You have become an agent of Death: a... | Read more »

Hints, tips, and tricks for Empires and...

Empires and Puzzles is a slick match-stuff RPG that mixes in a bunch of city-building aspects to keep things fresh. And it's currently the Game of the Day over on the App Store. So, if you're picking it up for the first time today, we thought it'd... | Read more »

What You Need to Know About Sam Barlow’s...

Sam Barlow’s follow up to Her Story is #WarGames, an interactive video series that reimagines the 1983 film WarGames in a more present day context. It’s not exactly a game, but it’s definitely still interesting. Here are the top things you should... | Read more »

Pixel Plex Guide - How to Build Better T...

Pixel Plex is the latest city builder that has come to the App Store, and it takes a pretty different tact than the ones that came before it. Instead of being in charge of your own city by yourself, you have to work together with other players to... | Read more »

Fortnite Will Be Better Than PUBG on Mob...

Before last week, if you asked me which game I prefer between Fortnite Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), I’d choose the latter just about 100% of the time. Now that we know that both games are primed to hit our mobile screens... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

MacBook Pro sale! B&H drops prices on new...

B&H Photo has dropped prices on new 2017 13″ MacBook Pros, with models now on sale for up to $200 off MSRP. Shipping is free, and B&H charges sales tax for NY & NJ residents only. Their... Read more

B&H Photo has the 1.4GHz Mac mini on sale for $399 for a limited time. Their price is $100 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price available for a mini from any Apple reseller:
– 1.4GHz Mac mini (... Read more

Apple has a full line of Certified Refurbished iMacs available for up to $350 off original MSRP. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free. The following models are available:
– 27... Read more

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